Disability And Mental Health Condition

Disability and Mental Health Condition

[Name of the Writer]

[Name of the Institution]

Disability and Mental Health Condition

Introduction

Mental health has been an issue of great concern for medical practitioners for a very long time. Humans have tried to cope up from a number of mental disorders from the beginning of times. The practice of psychiatry and psychology have reformed the lives of many people since the initial days of these practices. Moreover, the mental health of the prisoners who have been serving their sentences in the jails is also a major area of interest for the researchers.

According to the experts in the area of psychiatry and psychology, individuals residing inside the prison facilities suffer from a wide range of mental disabilities and psychological disorders. Most of the criminals are already suffering from some kind of psychological disorder that is why they indulge in criminal activities and commit illegal activities. Some prisoners develop various mental and psychological ailments inside the cells and the prison facilities in the company of other prison inmates.

Researchers have contributed a number of pieces of research in order to better understand the relationship between the mental or psychological health and the state of the individual i.e., being in the state of imprisonment or roaming freely. Among the many numbers of articles published over the subject, two of the articles have been written brilliantly over these topics. Both these articles provide deep knowledge and insight over the topic of the relationship between the mental condition and the prisoners.

The first article has been written by Björn Hofvander and his associates with the title of “Mental health among young adults in prison: the importance of childhood onset conduct disorder.” The second article under discussion is the research work of V. Harrington under the title of “Assessing the prevalence of intellectual disability among young male prisoners”.

Discussion

As per many experts, any mental illness or psychological issue causes certain disabilities in the normal functioning of the brain. The psychological disorder interferes with the normal functioning of the brain and causes it to not function properly, creating a disability in the individual suffering from it. This disability may be temporary nature or can be permanent depending upon the severity of the psychological disorder.

One of the most common and possibly the most dangerous disability caused by the abnormal functioning of the brain is the intellectual disability (Herrington, 2009). The person or the prisoner is not able to think properly and perform even the normal everyday functions of life. Intellectual disability mostly occurs as a result of stress and depression. Excessive stress and prolonged depression have shown strong links to damage brain cells. Researchers have come across May cases in which prolonged depression has resulted in the deterioration of the brain cells, which has ultimately caused further damage in the form of intellectual disabilities.

The side-effects of these intellectual disabilities have found out to be severe. A patient suffering from this issue feels problem in resolving even the simplest of questions related to any subject. This disability interferes with their daily life and routine, causing them to face many issues on a daily basis. These patients face great problem while making decisions and their decision-making ability is also significantly affected,

Mental illness may be caused due to a number of causes; it may be due to some shock or trauma, any major loss in life or even genetic. The traces of mental illness like depression may be carried in the inheritance or genetic code of the individual, which may be carried on till many generations. This mental illness may not look so big or serious, but many patients inside the prisons and such deformational facilities commit suicide due to continuous stress and depression.

Researchers also doubt to a great extent that the prisoners suffering from any sort of mental disorder are at a higher risk of repeating the offensive behavior or reoffending (Hofvander, 2017). Researchers have performed various types of studies over the topic from different aspects and found positive relationships between mental illness and re-offending.

Many experts are of the view that having a mental disorder increases the chances of an individual to indulge or participate in criminal activity. The state of mental disorder makes the crime, or even any illegal or wrong activity, look more attractive and an individual is more inclined towards it. A person with a psychological disorder is expected to have a larger tendency to not listen to his good side and act upon the urge to behave abnormally.

The chances for an individual, or to be more precise, an inmate to indulge in criminal activities increases by many folds, if that individual has already done any crime and is already serving his time in any prison facility. Scientists are completely agreed upon over the fact that the chances of reoffending increase many times if the prisoner is suffering from even a mild form of mental illness.

Conclusion

In short, it can be clearly seen that individuals, especially prisoners, suffering from any kind of mental disorder are more likely to indulge in deviant behavior as compared to any other normal human being. These prisoners have also a high chance of reoffending and repeat the action, as a response to his or her impulse, Moreover, mental illnesses have been proven to be harmful to the intellectual capabilities of a person. It affects the brain cells and their functioning causing one of the major issues of disability, intellectual disability.

References

Herrington, V. (2009). Assessing the prevalence of intellectual disability among young male prisoners. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 53(5), 397-410.

Hofvander, B., Anckarsäter, H., Wallinius, M., & Billstedt, E. (2017). Mental health among young adults in prison: the importance of childhood-onset conduct disorder. BJPsych open, 3(2), 78-84.